New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has announced plans to tap into the city’s stockpile to send Covid-19 test kits, swabs, ventilators, pulse oximeters and other vital medical supplies to India to save lives in the country.

In a statement posted on the official website of the City of New York, de Blasio said that just over a year ago, the city was the centre of the global pandemic. “Now it is our turn to step up and help India in its moment of crisis. We are sending vital medical equipment to India to send a clear message: nobody is in the fight against Covid-19 alone. Together, we can save lives and beat back the pandemic,” he said.

Kapil Longani, counsel to the mayor, said: “As a proud Indian immigrant with generations of family currently living in India, it breaks my heart to see the ongoing Covid-19 tragedy unfold.”

“The mayor is a leading citizen of the world, and on behalf of the Indian community, I offer my deepest gratitude for his decision to commit life-saving resources to India,” he said.

Deputy mayor of health and human services Melanie Hartzog said: “This horrible pandemic has taken too many lives, and we cannot stand idle as it continues to wreak havoc in another city. I stand with my colleagues in the City government to make sure we provide any and all support possible to our fellow citizens in India.”

When Covid-19 struck the US last year, New York City became an epicentre, prompting authorities to shut it in mid-March as the coronavirus ravaged the metropolis.

Democratic lawmaker Grace Meng, representative of New York’s 6th Congressional district in New York City, said: “India is our dear friend and ally and we must continue to be there for its people in their urgent time of need. I thank mayor de Blasio for sending this critical aid, and ask all New Yorkers to keep India in their thoughts and prayers.”

Indian-origin Assembly member Jenifer Rajkumar said: “As the first Indian-American woman elected to state office in New York, I stand in solidarity with the people of India at their time of need.”

“The largest Indian-American population in the western hemisphere is here in New York City. It was Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr who said, ‘Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,’ and that has never been more true than during the Covid-19 pandemic….

“ I applaud mayor de Blasio and (health) commissioner (Dave A.) Chokshi for recognising that we are all in this pandemic together and for sending supplies to the people of India so they can fight this deadly virus,” she said.

Randhir Jaiswal, consul-general of India in New York, said: “We greatly appreciate the generous gift by New York City to the Government of India. The ventilators, bipaps (bi-level positive airway pressure) and testing kits which have been donated by New York will be immensely useful in fighting the pandemic in India. The supplies being sent will further add to the robust assistance provided by the US government to India. The empathy shown by this great City is admirable.”

New York’s thousands of Indian-Americans are filled with anger and helplessness as they witness the unnecessary tragedy back in the country, said Harpreet Singh Toor, co-founder and president of South Asians for Global Empowerment.

“Especially when our own situation has become so full of hope, it is the right time to join mayor Bill de Blasio in calling for a full-scale effort to donate vaccines, Covid-19 test kits, swabs, ventilators, pulse oximeters, and every other type of relief possible to India,” he said.